Roman-Era Mummy Found in Egyptian Oasis

A 3-foot tall intricately carved plaster sarcophagus portraying a wide-eyed woman dressed in a tunic was found in a newly uncovered complex of tombs at the remote Bahariya desert oasis area 186 miles southwest of Cairo in Egypt. Archaeologist Mahmoud Afifi, who led the dig, said the new find had not been dated but the burial style indicated the sarcophagus belonged to Egypt's long period of Roman rule, from 31 B.C. until the Arab invasions of the 7th century.
(AP Photo/Supreme Council of Antiquities)

CAIRO — Egypt has discovered the mummy of a woman dating back to the Roman era in a newly uncovered complex of tombs in a desert oasis.

Archaeologist Mahmoud Afifi, who headed the dig, says the mummy is of a 3 feet tall woman. Her body was covered in intricately molded plaster that shows her wearing a tunic, headscarf, necklace, bracelet and shoes.

Afifi says they have not dated the mummy yet, but the burial style indicates she belonged to Egypt's long period of Roman rule, from 31 B.C. until the Arab invasions of the 7th century.

He said Monday it was the first Roman-style mummy found in Bahariya Oasis some 186 miles southwest of Cairo.

The find was part of a cemetery dating back to the Greco-Roman period containing 14 tombs.